[CES] Wireless Display at Intel and Netgear's

During the CES 2010, Intel introduced a new technology branded Wireless Display. This wireless technique, abbreviated to WiDi, makes it possible to stream video from notebooks based on current Arrandale processors to a larger television or monitor. Simultaneously, Intel's partner Netgear revealed the first WiDi-receiver in the form of the Push2TV.

Wireless Display consists of two devices: a special notebooks that is compatible with the technology and a receiver to connect to the television, Netgear's Push2TV. After that, streaming (compressed) video from your notebook to your television becomes easy thanks to Intel's My WiFi and Wireless Display software. A sidenote however is that not all of the Arrandale processors are compatible. Only the models with an 'M' as suffix are supported, meaning the 'LM' and 'UM' versions will not be compatible.

As of yet, only six available processors live up to the criteria: the Core i7 620M, the Core i5 540M, 520M and 430M and the Core i3 350M and 330M. Other requirements are that the notebook needs to feature an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200, Advanced-N +WiMax 6250 or an Ultimate-N 6300 wireless network card. All three cards use the 802.11n standard, which allows for a connection speed of up to 300 Mbit/s. Lastly, Windows 7 needs to be installed to run the required software.

Once the signal is transmitted by the notebook, the Push2TV is capable of converting it back to video on the television. Netgear's Push2TV is a black box sized 106 x 138 x 32 mm and weighs 2,5 kg. It can be connected to a TV by means of an HDMI or composite output. The receiver is to be launched in the United States, both seperate and bundled with a notebook from Best Buy's Blue Label 2.0 series. Models from this line-up include Dell's Studio 15z, the Sony Vaio VPCS111FM/S and Toshiba's Satellite E205.

The Push2TV costs US $99,99 and $899 when bundled with a standard configuration notebook.